Loco for locos: secrets of a Ballarat railway enthusiast

In a 15x8 metre garden shed in a backyard in Ballarat, Ian Barrett pursues his passion for model railways. The shed is dominated by an oval looped track, and two model trains wind their way past mountains, through tunnels, over bridges and through American towns.

"My grandfather built a layout for my family and it sort of went through my brothers and got to me, and my younger brother didn't get a chance with it."

Ian says he has tried to pass it on to the next generation without success.

"My daughter's not really interested at this point in time, but that's alright. She's going to have grandkids at some stage."

He says while there is one woman in the Ballarat and District Model Railway Club, it seems to have remained a male-dominated hobby.

"It's just boys with their toys I think."

And while the hobby has struggled to attract young people for some time, Ian says there are a few getting interested now.

If you suspected most model railway enthusiasts are living in the romantic past, you'd be wrong. These days, the hobby is quite technical.

"Technology has certainly advanced with the likes of the digital command control that's available now, with sound units and lighting and effects and everything like that.

"It's making the hobby a lot more user friendly, and a lot easier to play with. Because with one handpiece you can dial up any loco on your layout and you can basically control in any direction at any one time. So you could have one controller do 9999 trains."

Ian says working with the trains is a good workout for the brain.

"Especially when it comes to technology, nutting out the wiring and how to fit the digital chips into the locos and getting the sound program exactly how you want per loco."

He says there's also an aspect of art to the scenes they create as backgrounds to the railways.

"It's a 3D type of art. We always try to better ourselves and our techniques and everything that we do on trying to make the scenes look more realistic every time. We always learn something along the way."

Ian says while accuracy is important in recreating railways from different countries, there's room for creativity.

"But a lot of it we try to make it plausible that it's in a certain country or a certain area of that country."

He says his favourite railways are from the US.

"Mainly the Santa Fe which is California, New Mexico, Arizona, in that sort of area, the desert type scenery."

Ian says it's both a solo and a team pastime.

"When I'm running a layout it's actually nicer to work with other people, because you sort of bounce off each other and you actually have a lot more fun.

"But when you are building the model itself, sometimes you need the concentration so you've got to work by yourself."

He says the projects are ongoing.

"Because you're not happy with some things so you like to change them a little bit. You just keep modifying bits as you go along. There's always something to do."

Ian thinks Victoria's railway system is not as good as it used to be.

"There was a bit of style to the old ways."

So why does Ian Barrett love trains and railways?

"I don't really know. It's just been a passion and it's always been there. It's like some people play with cars all their life, trains is my hobby."

The Ballarat and District Model Railway Club will hold its annual exhibition over the long weekend at the Eastwood Leisure Centre.